


No More Heroes

by WildflowerWoods



Series: Villain Black Bulls [1]
Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Black Bulls Squad as Antagonists, Black Bulls Squad as Villains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 03:20:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30015327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WildflowerWoods/pseuds/WildflowerWoods
Summary: The Black Bulls are a squad of monsters. Broken people turned cruel and heartless, destroying everything in their path without any thought or regard for the consequences or loss of life. They always have their hoods up, never say a word and, more often than not, to see one is to die.The last thing Langris expected to see the first time he saw the face of a Black Bull was a ghost.Because the angry, bitter spirit in front of him meant that there was a lot more to the story than he'd first thought. And that maybe the Black Bulls weren't monsters without reason.
Relationships: Finral Roulacase & Langris Vaude
Series: Villain Black Bulls [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2217012
Comments: 10
Kudos: 49





	No More Heroes

**Author's Note:**

> An idea that I've been playing around with recently. May or may not continue it depending on how people react, so if you want more, please let me know.
> 
> Title is from Red Water Dreams by Aviators, which is the song I had on loop while writing this.
> 
> Also, this is set a few years later than canon, so Langris is 22, Klaus is 20 and Yuno is 18.

"Well, what have we here?" Langris froze at the voice, an achingly familiar voice that he thought he'd never hear again. No. It couldn't be him. He- he was dead. Had been dead for years. "if it isn't Little Langris." he turned, trying to spot the owner of the voice there- on the roof, was a ghost. "what? Nothing to say to your big brother?" Langris shook his head, taking a step back. No. It couldn't be him.

"You're dead." Langris said, eyes fixed on the ghost "they told me you were dead." the ghost was dressed in green, aside from the black mantle around his shoulders, a bull's skull outlined in gold proclaiming his loyalty for all to see. His hood was down. "how-"

"Oh, didn't you know?" the ghost asked, opening a portal and joining Langris on the ground "they lied."

"What-" he took another step back as the ghost leaned forwards, and Langris was faced with a face almost identical to his own, purple eyes that were once so kind hollow and empty.

"Couldn't have the _failure_ corrupting their 'Precious Little Langris' after all" the ghost let out a bitter laugh and there had only ever been one person to call Langris anything like that and it wasn’t the ghost in front of him "no, far, far better to just get rid of it." the smile was wrong, all teeth, a warning, a _threat_ , rather than a comfort "Did you miss your big brother?"

"You're not my brother." he spat. The ghost might have his brother's face, his voice, his magic, but that wasn't his brother.

"No." the ghost said, taking a step back. "I guess I'm not." it moved like his brother, waved it's hands like he did "looks like they were right about one thing after all" but his brother didn't act like that "Your brother is _dead_." the ghost spat, his brother wasn't full of hatred and anger "and _s_ _he_ killed him." his brother wouldn't be a _Black Bull_.

"Why?" Langris asked, watching the ghost absently play with portals the same way his brother used to and ignoring the members of his squad slowly approaching.

"Hmm?" the ghost asked and everything about the damned thing was so familiar that it hurt. Almost like he'd been taken back in time to the day he last saw his brother.

"Why are you here? Why _now_?" he asked, "it's been _years_." the best part of a decade.

All the evidence was right there in front of him, Langris knew that, he just didn't want to admit it. Because admitting it-

Admitting that the ghost was actually his brother meant that he'd mourned for someone who chose to stay away and never come home. That he never thought to let Langris know that he was still alive.

Admitting it meant facing the past and the pieces to the truth he'd tried so hard to bury because he hadn't liked the picture they made.

Admitting it meant that there was a good chance his mother was to blame.

If the ghost really was his brother, if his parents really had lied about his death, if there wasn't an accident, then-

Then the ghost was telling the truth and someone had intentionally taken his brother out of the picture.

"Oh! I've been sent with a message for the Wizard King" the ghost said.

"Sent?" Klaus asked as the small group of Golden Dawn reached them. "By who?"

"Well, that hardly matters." the ghost said, returning to the roof and out of their reach. "don't you want to hear my message?"

"Alright." Yuno said, "tell us."

"Are you afraid of the Dark?" the ghost asked, "because, you should be." and, while to the others it may sound like a threat, to Langris it sounded like a warning.

"What-" Klaus started, but the ghost cut him off.

"I'm afraid that's all I've got time for, we'll have to have a proper catch up at a later date, Little Langris, oh, do me a favour though? Don't mention this to Father. I'd hate for him to have to get involved." with that, the ghost stepped through a portal and vanished.

"Who was that?" Yuno asked, shattering the silence.

"A Black Bull." Klaus said "they're- well, they're criminals. Insane monsters. They do what they want, when they want and destroy everything in their paths. I've never heard one talk before though. And he addressed Vice-Captain Langris so casually. Do you know him?" Langris said nothing, staring at the empty space where the ghost had stood for a long moment.

Putting a name to the ghost meant that things got very complicated, very quickly.

"Vice-Captain Langris?" Klaus repeated.

"His name is Finral," Langris said, the name coming as easily as it always had even though he hadn't said it in years. "Finral Vaude"

The journey back to the base was silent.

* * *

"Captain Vangeance" William looked up at the sound of his name to see Klaus and Yuno stood in the open doorway to his office.

"What is it, Klaus, Yuno?" he asked. Klaus never came to him unless it was something important and Clove knew that Yuno only ever asked for help if he had no other option.

"We had an- altercation with a Black Bull," Klaus said, and William felt his blood freeze. A Black Bull? No. Everyone knew that most who ran into them didn't walk away alive. "all he did was talk" talk? William was sure that he misheard Klaus for a moment. The Black Bulls never said a word, they certainly didn't _talk_ to people. Nobody had _ever_ heard a word pass the lips of a Black Bull and live to tell the tale. "well, he talked to Vice-Captain Langris."

"They seemed to know each other," Yuno said.

"Langris knows a Black Bull?" William asked, because the idea was ridiculous. Though the Black Bulls hadn't made any real appearance until a few years later, the general consensus was that the Black Bulls were to blame for the death of Langris' older brother.

"Captain, I think there's more to this than we know, Vice-Captain Langris-"

"He said the Black Bull was called Finral." Yuno interrupted and William froze again because that was- "Finral Vaude." Langris thought his brother, his brother who was supposed to be _dead_ , and been dead for _years_ was a Black Bull? The idea seemed impossible, but there always had been rumours surrounding the accident that caused the death of the eldest son of House Vaude. There never had been a body to bury.

"Vice-Captain Langris retreated to his room after we returned and hasn't emerged since," Klaus said

"Thank you for telling me, Klaus." it was no surprise that Langris had hidden away, the idea that a brother he'd believed to be dead might not be- that was enough to upset anyone, never mind Langris, who never had been the best with emotions.

"The Black Bull gave us a message before he left, said it was for the Wizard King," Yuno said, and William would have to take Langris with him the next time he went to talk to Julius to pass on the message. He didn't doubt that Langris thought that the Black Bull was his brother, but it was possible that Langris was letting his emotions get the better of him and misinterpreting what he saw.

"What was the message?"

"Are you afraid of the dark? Because, you should be."

* * *

"I see," Julius said as William finished giving his report. "the Black Bulls are getting bolder. Vice-Captain Langris, are you sure-"

"I think I can recognise my own brother, sir." Langris said. "my apologies, I shouldn't have snapped."

"No, it's quite alright." Julius said "this must be very distressing for you." to find out that a brother he'd thought was dead was actually alive and working with a known terrorist organisation must have been quite a shock for him. "but, if you don't mind, I'd like to have Marx look though a few of your memories so we can confirm that they are indeed the same person." Julius knew that he was asking a lot, it was common knowledge that Langris was reluctant to talk about his brother at the best of times, but he had to know. Finral Vaude's death always had seemed suspicious to him, it was just too neat, the alibis too solid, and the fact that he'd apparently got lost in his own magic so there wasn't even a body was just a bit too convenient for Julius to believe. He'd met Finral Vaude, seen how skilled the boy was with his portals, he highly doubted that a training accident gone wrong was really what had happened, but he hadn't had the resources to spend time searching for one noble boy, especially not with a case that looked so cut and dry.

"I- yes. You can look." Langris said, clearly with great reluctance.

* * *

"When was the last time you saw your brother?"

_"Hey, Langris, look at this!" he turned to see Finral sending a small, heart-shaped rock through portal after portal so quickly it looked like he was juggling multiple rocks. A green grimoire was closed on the bench next to him._

_"Nii-San, we're supposed to be studying. Not playing with rocks." Langris said, sending a small burst of Spatial magic out, hitting the centre of the rock. Finral let the portals drop, catching the rock before it hit the ground. He held it up, looking through the hole._

_"Dead centre. You're getting really good at hitting moving targets, you know." Finral said, picking up his grimoire and sitting down. The rock was carefully placed on a pile of loose paper to stop it from blowing away._

_"That's because I practice, Nii-San. Now shut up, I'm trying to study, which is what you should be doing rather than juggling rocks." Finral laughed, holding out his hand_

_"Pass me a book then, though I can't stay long. Mother Liliane said she wanted my help with something today." Langris put his book down, turning to properly look at his brother. Finral had stopped smiling._

_"Mother?" he asked. "That can't be right. Mother never wants anything to do with you if she can avoid it. Are you sure it isn't Father and you're just remembering wrong?"_

_"Hey! My memory isn't that bad." Finral protested "but it means I probably won't see you 'til tomorrow, you've got your training with Father later after all."_

_"Right. I'll be curious to hear what she wanted you for." Finral opened his mouth to answer, only to stiffen as his name was called, badly hidden panic clear in his eyes, though it faded quickly as he forced himself to relax._

_"Finral!" Liliane Vaude called as she rounded the corner of the garden. "there you are, come along. We have things to do today." she paused, looking both brothers up and down. "maybe you can actually make yourself useful for once and stop corrupting my darling little Langris."_

_"Of course, Mother Liliane" Finral said, putting the book back on the garden table as he stood up, a nervous smile on his face. "I'll see you tomorrow, Langris." he waved as they left and Langris waved back before looking back down at the table. The heart-shaped rock was still on the pile of papers and Langris picked it up. Finral had been right, he had hit it dead centre._

_"Where do you find these things, Nii-San?" he wondered aloud, before pocketing the rock and picking his pen back up._

* * *

"Everything points to Vice-Captain Langris being right about his brother being the Black Bull he spoke to." Marx said after William and Langris had left, and that was the most troubling thing about it all. If Finral Vaude really was a Black Bull, then what had happened to turn the cheerful boy Langris remembered from the garden into the vengeful man on the roof.

"Indeed. I think there's a lot more to the Black Bulls than we realised" but without their identities, there was much Julius could do. "for now, I want someone to quietly look into the Vaude case, see if there's anything there that could tell us what happened to him." and if they could figure out one, they might have a chance at working out what the rest of the Black Bulls could do and hopefully stop them, once and for all.

"Of course, sir." Marx paused "they're getting bolder. First, they kidnapped the youngest Silva, and now this. What do you think they're after?"

"I don't know, Marx." the warning was strange too. Why should he be scared of the dark? There was nothing to fear from the shadows, unless Finral had been referring to a Dark magic user, but that was ridiculous. Dark magic was hypothetical, based purely on the idea that there must be an opposite to Light magic somewhere. "I honestly don't know."


End file.
